Bracelet-watch.



H. W. MATALENE.

BRACELET WATCH.

APPLIGATION FILED SEPT. 30, 1912.

Patented Jan.14, 1913.

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HENRY w. MATALENE, or new YORK, n. Y.

BRACELET-WATCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 14, 1913.

Application filed September 30, 1912. Serial No. 723,062.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY W. IVIATALENE, a citizen of the United States, and resident of New York, in the county and State of.

New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Bracelet-\Vatches, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to watches which are provided with a hinged connection to a strap, band or the like, by means of which they may be attached to the person of the wearer, and is particularly intended to improve upon prior constructions employed in bracelet watches, so-called, such a watch be ing commonly hinged at the sides of the watch case to the ends of the bracelet band and held thereby against the wrist of the wearer. v

In the construction of a bracelet watch it has heretofore been customary to provide at each side of the watch case a projection serving to carry or receive the pintle of the hinge which connects the watch to the corresponding end of the bracelet band, but inasmuch as watches of this character are usually of very small size and highly ornamental, while the hinge projections have to be relatively bulky, in order to give the hinges sufiicient strength and freedom from looseness, the effect of the projections is to destroy the original contour lines of the.

watch case, and the ornamental appearance of the watch is greatly impaired thereby.

According to my present invention this ob-- jection is overcome by locating the hinge pintle wholly within the lines of the watch case, the-case center being sufliciently thickened or' reinforced to receive the pintle and give the necessarystrength to the hinge, so that the case itself without any supplementary projections forms one member of each hinge. The other-member of eachhinge is brought down to relatively narrow dimensions at one extremity and inserted into a suitable recess ,in the case center, where it is mounted on the'pintle, while at its other extremity the hinge member is attached to the corresponding end of the braceletband and may be given any desired width, according to the width of the band.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure l is an elevation, partly in section, of a bracelet watch embodying my invention; and Fig. 2 is an edge view of the same, also partly in section.

The watch illustrated/in the drawings comprises a center 2, a bezel 3 and a back 4, which parts may have any desired ornamental configuration and are constructed and connected in the usual manner, except that the center 2 is internally reinforced or thickened as at 5 on opposite sides of the watch and contains on each side a pintle 6, which is thus located within the peripheral outline of the watch case, the thickened sides of the case center forming hinge members. Each of these hinge members is recessed to receive one end of the complemental hinge member 7, which is mounted on the pintle 5 within the recess and is made sufficiently cylindrical to enable it to turn on said pintle detachable connection for this purpose which preferably consists of a double bar 9 adapted to slide into a recess in the corresponding hinge member 7 and having a spring action which causes a notch in ,the bar to receive a projection 10 on the hinge member. Said bar when inserted into its recess extends in a direction transverse to:

the length of the band 8 and carries a loop 11 to which the corresponding end of said band is attached, and hence the tension on the band is exerted in a direction at right angles to the length of the bar 9 and has no tendency to pull said bar out of its recess in the hinge member. The bar can be readily removed, however, by pressing on its outwardly projecting end 12 until the adj acent notch is disengagedfrom the projection 10, and then sliding the, bar endwise out of the recess which contains 1t.

It will be seen that my improvements above described leave the ornamental outline of the watch unimpaired, the reduced ends of the hinge members 7 being covered by the cap and bezel when snapped into place, and since these liinge members may themselves be madeattractive in design an artistic bracelet watch construction is provided for. It will be evident that the hinge construction above described may be provided at one side of thewatch only, in ca e it is desired merely to suspend the watch from a strap or ribbon, for example, and that various changes may be made in the details of the construction without departing from my invention, particularly as regards the means for attaching the hinge members to the strap or band which carries the watch.

I claim as my invention:

1. A watch provided with a hinge connection comprising a pintle set into the case center and located within the peripheral outline thereof, and a hinge member having a reduced end entering a recess in the case center and mounted on the pintle therein, said hinge member having provision for attachment to the person or the wearer.

2. A watch having its case center internally reinforced and provided With a pintle and with a recess exposing a portion of the pintle, said pintle being located within the peripheral outline of the case, and a hinge member mounted at one end on said pintle within said recess and having provision for attachment to the person of the wearer.

3. A bracelet Watch construction comprising a watch having its case center reinforced on opposite sides and provided in each reinforced portion with a pintle and with a recess exposing the same within the peripheral outline of the watch, hinge members each entering the corresponding recess at one end and mounted on the pintle therein, and a bracelet band connected to the outwardlyextending portions-of said hinge members.

4. A watch comprising a hinge member pivotally attached to one edge of the watch, said hinge member having a recess extend ing parallel to the .axis of the hinge, a doubled bar adapted to slide endwise into said recess and provided with means for attaching a band or the like thereto, and means for detachably locking said bar in the recess.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 27th day of September 1912.

HENRY W. MATALENE.

Witnesses:

CHARLES MATALENE, E. A. TRUMPP. 

